Vehicles are frequently equipped with vehicle telematics units, which can provide a wide range of communications and vehicle monitoring services. The vehicle telematics units can place cellular calls from the vehicle as well as monitor vehicle function for trouble both at the vehicle and as part of a vehicle telematics service. Owners of vehicles having vehicle telematics units also frequently live at a residence or home that includes a number of electrical or electro-mechanical devices such as HVAC, indoor/outdoor lighting, and personal computers, that rely on user settings and/or input to function optimally. Before leaving the residence, a vehicle owner can adjust the settings of the electrical or electro-mechanical devices so that they operate efficiently while the owner is away from the residence. However, after the vehicle owner establishes the user settings, the environment in which the residence exists may change and those settings may no longer be optimal. Thus, it may be helpful if the user settings of these electrical or electro-mechanical devices could be altered while the vehicle owner is away from the residence.